Monday, June 27, 2011

RED RHUBARB TART WITH ALMONDS & ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER

This recipe came about due to a mistake. We had company coming for dinner and I wanted to make a simple but elegant dessert. My friend Holly had given us some beautiful jewel-red rhubarb and I knew I had some phyllo pastry in the freezer, so I thought I'd make a rhubarb strudel. I took out the long box of pastry to thaw in the refrigerator that morning and didn't give it another thought. When baking time came, I mixed up the rhubarb filling ingredients (deciding to add a little mouth-wateringly aromatic orange blossom water and a few almond slivers to it at the last minute) and set them aside and took out the box. And wasn't I surprised when it turned out to be PUFF pastry, not phyllo pastry (in my defense, the box looked just like the phyllo pastry box). Okay-- just had to go with it at that point. The result is this recipe and very nice it was, too! Many compliments and nothing left!

Orange blossom water is distilled water that contains the essential oils of the orange blossom. It adds a hint of a citrus scent to foods and compliments the flavor of rhubarb and fruit superbly. A little goes a long way.

(if you don’t have this, add a couple of teaspoons of grated organic orange zest instead)

1 tsp grated organic lemon zest

1 sheet dairy-free puff pastry dough, such as Pepperidge Farm (thawed out according to package directions)

Place rhubarb in bowl and toss with sugar, almonds, tapioca, orange blossom water, and lemon zest; set aside.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

On a piece of baking parchment, cut to fit a small baking sheet, roll the pastry into a 12 x 12-inch square (more or less). Scrape the rhubarb mixture down the middle of the pastry, leaving about an inch free on each end. Spread the mixture out a bit, but not right to the edge. Bring the sides of the pastry up to overlap the rhubarb muxture a bit; then fold the far edges of each end piece in like a piece of gift wrap, and bring each end up and slightly over the rhubarb, pressing the edges of the ends and sides together a bit so that they don't come apart.

Shift the tart, still on the baking parchment, onto your baking sheet.

Fold another piece of baking parchment to fit over only the rhubarb, not the pastry (this helps cook the rhubarb faster). Bake the tart for about 20 minutes, or until it starts to turn golden. Increase the heat to 400 degrees F. (You don't want to bake it too fast at the beginning, because you don't want the pastry to be done before the rhubarb is cooked.) Bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until the rhubarb is bubbly and tender and the pastry is dark golden. Remove from the oven.

Cool the pan on a rack until time to serve. Cut into 6 pieces and serve with your favorite vanilla non-dairy "ice cream" or whipped topping.

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